


One With Nature

by GemNika



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Character Death, CoLu Week 2017, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, F/M, Forced Relationship, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Memory Loss, Nymphs & Dryads, Transformation, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 07:57:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11801766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemNika/pseuds/GemNika
Summary: CoLu Week 2017, Day 8: Curse. After witnessing her father's murder by her betrothed, Lucy runs for her life into the heart of Darkwood. Will she survive both Ivan's fury and the dreaded Fae of the forbidden forest?





	One With Nature

**Author's Note:**

> I did a lot of back and forth on what the final day was going to be. There was the Poison Slayer!Lucy continuation, a What I Crave epilogue thing, then I figured I'd just end CoLu Week this year with the second half of the Who Says Fairy Tales Are Normal? from Day 4. And then, I got an idea. I have no idea where it came from, but I just ran with it. I've been having a lot of fun experimenting with different fantasy themes, kind of forcing myself to branch away from the standard canon setting.
> 
> Just so you're aware now… Cobra is very OoC in this. I've never really written him this way, but I hope you guys enjoy it nonetheless. It was kinda fun to write him like this, but I doubt it'll be a recurring thing.

 

She'd passed Darkwood many times in her life, but Lucy had never had the bravery necessary to venture inside the forbidden forest on the western side of town. Stories from those in the village travelled quickly from one home to another, and even though her father tried to ensure she never heard the commoners' tales, it was hard to ignore.

But that night was different. She hadn't a care in the world of those old folk legends she'd heard from the servants around the manor. Not while dashing, barefoot, across the stream at the edge of her father's property. She could hear hounds baying from somewhere far behind her. Had she been smarter, quieter, no one would have known that she'd seen the foul play that had befallen her father. No one would have been any the wiser. Her betrothed, a vile man she'd begged her father to send away, was more despicable than she could have guessed. If only she hadn't called out when she'd seen him slit her father's throat in his study. If only she hadn't screamed at Ivan to stop. His eyes had been so cold, soulless yet intense, as a manic grin stretched over his face.

The hounds bayed louder, howling with fervor as though she was nothing more than some fox or wild game. Lucy's breaths were ragged as she scrambled up the hill leading away from her home. She couldn't let him find her. He'd kill her. Worse yet, he would force her to marry him right away and take the money that would have been in her father's estate. And then he would kill her.

"Run," she huffed to her screaming legs. "Come on, go faster!"

Her nightdress snagged on a branch as she jumped into the high hedges surrounding the property, but she paid it no attention and forced her way through, out onto the thoroughfare that had recently been paved with cobblestones - the first street in town that had been paved this way. They were cold against her feet, and even though her body begged to slow, Lucy couldn't.

Harsh barks came from down the road and she turned in time to see two men running toward her from the drive to her home. They called out to her, but she didn't waste her breath with a response.

Fire fueled her muscles to push her onward, across the street and through the dusty town square. And finally she came to the edge of town. To the gap in the homes and shops around the area that led toward Darkwood. Fear stayed her trembling legs. Going into Darkwood was forbidden, dangerous. There were monsters in there the size of houses. Fae who would lull you to sleep and then eat your brains while you were still alive. Demons slithered in the branches and reached out to tear off women's clothing, only for others to hold them down and impregnate them with hellish offspring.

"Get back here, woman!" Ivan bellowed. She didn't have to see him to know that there was still blood on his waistcoat and the black gloves he'd been wearing. She could hear the hatred in his voice and picture his vicious scowl while his steps drew closer.

She couldn't stall any longer. Even as she took the first step and the hounds barked louder, gaining on her now that she'd slowed, Lucy felt as though her world was crumbling around her.

Did she dare to venture into this forbidden forest, just to get away from him?

"You'll regret this!"

Yes. Yes, she did.

She darted forward once more, unaware of the sudden kiss of soft grass beneath her feet as the thick trunks that had so frightened her as a child drew closer. She hissed as bark scraped against her thigh, tearing at her nightdress and leaving a slip of the white silk behind. Still, she pushed on. Even as twigs bit into the soft soles of her feet and branches snapped against her face and hands, Lucy refused to stop. She turned right and rounded a large oak, hopped over the roots that had lifted from beneath the forest floor, and couldn't muffle a scream when she slipped down a rocky bank that led into a chilly creek. She splashed and gasped while scrambling through it, no matter how often her feet and hands slid across slimy rocks beneath the surface.

"Where are you, Lucy?!" Ivan bellowed.

She glanced back once she reached the opposite bank and watched as a dark shadow shot past where she'd turned off.

She still couldn't stop though. What if he turned round and found her sitting there? What if he'd brought a hunting rifle with him? She couldn't hear the hounds, but they most likely had refused to follow her into the forest. No one would question her disappearance if someone had seen her run off into Darkwood. If he turned back and went to town, he could claim everything of hers for himself. All he'd have to do is say she died in Darkwood.

Lucy paid no mind to the dirt clinging to her, sullying her clothing, while she climbed up the bank and ran through the trees. She didn't know where to go though. As long as she stayed away from Ivan, then everything would be fine. As long as she made it to morning, then she could find her way back to town and have him arrested for the murder of her father.

As long as she survived the night, everything would be fine.

As long as she kept running. As long as she stayed out of Ivan Dreyar's clutches.

* * *

By the time she finally stopped to catch her breath, Lucy was lost. She hadn't a clue where she'd run to or even how far into Darkwood she'd gone. She collapsed to her knees beneath a tall oak tree whose branches reached wildly in every direction. Some seemed to wilt down onto the ground while others soared and twisted around one another right to the heavens. A long gash ran down the length of the trunk, looking as though it was centuries old and the bark had just never healed.

She swiped a hand over her face and pressed her back against the trunk, looking through the dark red leaves above her and searching for the stars. If she could just find the stars, she could figure out where home was. Her mother had taught her that much so many years ago.

After several minutes in silence, once her breaths had become more even, Lucy frowned. It wasn't that she couldn't see the stars - though that was frustrating - but that she could so clearly see the color of the leaves. The night was deep and dark around her, and somehow she was only just noticing how easily she'd been able to navigate this foreign forest. She cast her gaze around, but didn't see any strange motes of light or otherworldly beings that might be giving her more light. The tree itself wasn't glowing. Nothing was glowing.

It simply felt as though the true darkness in the night couldn't touch this place. How strange that it was called Darkwood, but it wasn't all that dark.

A single crimson leaf fluttered down to her lap, and she gently touched it with a small smile. Her fingers ran along the pale lavender veins and pointed edges before she finally lifted it to her lips and pressed a tender kiss to the leaf. Her head tipped back against the trunk while she gazed up at the gnarled, arching boughs around her.

"Thank you," she whispered to no one in particular. Maybe it was the tree she was thanking, for giving her such a small gift that brightened a piece of her heart.

Maybe it was Darkwood itself, for creating some semblance of safety for her from the man she was supposed to marry.

Lucy's eyes filled with tears at the thought. She'd begged her father not to accept Ivan's proposal. Even when he'd confirmed that the marriage was to be for him and not his son Laxus - who was several years older than her, but still close enough in age that it wasn't revolting to even think of lying down with him - her father hadn't refused.

Ivan was older than her own father, and that still hadn't turned the men away from the idea. They hadn't cared about her own wants or needs in this.

Granted, Lucy didn't really like Laxus all that much. He was arrogant and showy on occasion, and the way he leered at her during functions in town put a bad taste in her mouth. But at least he wasn't old like Ivan.

At least Laxus wasn't a disgusting  _murderer_ , like his father.

"Please keep me safe," she said, holding the leaf to her chest. Another leaf fell down and landed on her lap. "Please. Don't let him find me…" She didn't hear the soft shuffle of boots over grass only a few feet away. "Please… Keep me safe. Don't let him-"

"Don't let me find you?" Lucy's eyes snapped open to find Ivan glaring down at her. "Ah, my dearest Lucy," Ivan chuckled. "Such a silly little girl."

"I-Ivan, please," she whimpered. "Just leave me alone." She cried out when his hands locked around her arms with enough force to bruise, and he pulled her up to stand before him. Except he kept lifting until her feet no longer touched the ground, then bashed her body against the tree. "Please! Stop this!"

"You just had to be there," he sneered. "You had to see it."

"I-I won't say-" She grunted when he shook her and the bark from the tree etched deep trenches into her bare shoulders.

"Shut up! I know women like you," he hissed. "You say what I want to hear, and you plot behind my back!"

"I won't-"

"I said shut up!" Her head cracked against the tree when he shook her again, forcing bright stars into her eyes and sending her mind spinning. She wasn't aware that he'd thrown her to the ground until his legs were on either side of her crumpled body and his hands wound around her throat. "You're supposed to be my little trophy wife. Marry the richest man in town's daughter. Easy enough."

She tried in vain to claw at his arms when he started to squeeze. And all the while he glared down at her with those cold black eyes. She wondered if maybe he'd come from Darkwood himself, and had simply passed himself off as a mortal. Was he a demon of some sort, now in his element where she was so weak and defenseless?

"You weren't supposed to see," Ivan spat. "You were supposed to be a good little girl and come crying to me when you found him dead!"

Her hands felt heavy as she struggled to pull in air. The world around her spun wildly, and just before her eyes rolled back she saw the leaves hanging above them. Such a rich crimson. She'd never seen leaves so dark. So beautiful. At least if she was going to die, it would be somewhere like this. Somewhere lovely.

"Oh, I don't think so," Ivan hissed. His hand connected with her cheek hard enough to bring her vision back into startling focus. The hands around her throat were gone, and she coughed and sucked in as much air as possible. "You know, all this chasing you has been a little fun, Lucy."

Tears broke past her lashes when his hot breath scorched its way down her bruised throat. Her hands lifted to his chest to push him away, but Ivan beared down on her with more force.

"It's alright," he chuckled. "We'll be married anyway, won't we? No one needs to know about this."

"Ivan, no," she coughed. It had been stupid of her stop and rest. She should have known he would catch up to her. "Stop! I won't tell anyone."

"There's nothing to tell."

"R-Right," she sniffled, still pushing against his chest to keep his thin lips away from her. She cringed when his beard scratched along her cheek.

"Now give me what I want, Lucy," he rasped. Ivan gripped her wrists tightly and forced them to the ground, grinning when she began to struggle against him. "You still want to fight?"

She couldn't let him do this to her though. It didn't matter to her if she died in Darkwood, but there was no way she could allow Ivan to do something so vile. Lucy knew she wouldn't be able to fight him off, and she was already feeling sore from running for so long. But maybe, if she could trick him, maybe then she could get away. "Ivan, stop!" she screeched. His tongued slithered down her throat. "Oh my god… It's…"

"It'll be wonderful," he rasped.

"Demon!" Just as she'd hoped, his head shot up and he turned away from her. Just enough that Lucy was able to wriggle out from beneath him. She scrambled to her feet and dashed to a low branch on the oak tree looming over them. And she started to climb.

He wasn't an idiot though. He saw what she was doing, and with his legs being so much longer, Ivan closed the space between them in no time at all. She'd barely been able to reach for the next branch above her before his arms locked around her waist. Lucy held tightly to it, kicking back at him even though she could feel bark digging into her, scratching at her arms.

"Someone… Anyone… Help me! Please, help me!" she cried. Her eyes rounded when she lost her grip on the branch. Ivan threw her away from the tree, and a sharp, pained cry broke past her lips when she hit the ground. He loomed over her, panting with wild, crazed eyes full of hatred. Lucy tried to crawl away, but she couldn't move. A soft breeze flowed through Darkwood, sending those same deep crimson leaves fluttering down around her.

"You really think anyone can hear you?" Ivan sneered down at her, taking a step forward and then another. "You're alone here, Lucy. I'm the only one who could have saved you from this place."

"Please, Ivan. Don't do this," she said through her tears.

"It's too late for that." He lunged for her and Lucy's eyes slammed shut. Maybe if she just didn't watch, it wouldn't hurt her. Maybe she could ignore everything, force her mind somewhere else while he took everything from her. Maybe he would show mercy and kill her afterward.

"Wh-What is this?!" Ivan shrieked.

Her eyes opened and she found Ivan dangling several feet above her with a thick branch wrapped around his stomach. Blood red leaves turned on their stems and speared into his flailing arms and legs.

"What has he done to you?" a soft, gravelly voice asked. Lucy gasped at the gentle touch of leaves against her cheek, turning her attention from Ivan and toward the trunk of the great oak. A man, not much older than herself in appearance, gazed down at her while stepping away from the tree. Out of the tree, actually. She was entranced by the sight of his body shifting from tree bark to something closer to normal skin that was a rich tan, several shades darker than Ivan's. A cluster of crimson leaves and rich green moss covered his groin, but the rest of him was bare. Except Lucy couldn't find it in herself to pay much attention to how his body looked. Not when she looked at his face.

"Get away from her, monster!" Ivan bellowed.

The man's only eye was a vibrant indigo, a wholly unnatural color for an eye to be, with an exotic tilt that made it appear more narrow. His lips were thin and his nose flat with the smallest upturn at the tip. Where his other eye should have been, was nothing more than a scar over a closed eyelid. He came to kneel in front of her and Lucy trembled as his hands gently moved beneath her shoulders to help her sit. He was so close, she could see the dark crimson of his hair, spiked in every direction. His long, pointed ears. Either she was dreaming, or this was a Fae. She'd really met a Fae.

"What has he done?" the man asked again. "Tell me."

She didn't want to say a word, but a tender warmth spread beneath her scalp and sent the words falling from her lips. "He forced me into a marriage contract, then killed my father," she said. "I saw the murder, and… And he was going to…" She shivered and bile rose in her throat. "Force himself on me."

"I'll kill you!" Ivan bellowed, still wriggling in the branches binding him. "Lucy, you good-for-nothing wretch. You shut your mouth!"

The man's head tilted slightly and he brushed her dirt-encrusted blonde hair back from her face. "Your name is Lucy?"

"Yes," she said, though she hadn't wanted to.

He gave a small smile that set her a little more at ease. Leaves rustled around her, flittering across her cheek and shoulders. "It's a beautiful human name," he said. "I guess you could call me Erik, if you wanted to."

"I-If I wanted…?"

"I don't have a name anymore, but that used to be my name. When I was human." His hand curved around her cheek and drew her closer. "Would you say my name?"

There was a harsh gag that caught her attention, and Lucy glanced toward Ivan and found him struggling more insistently than before with several branches from the tree wound about his neck. His face had turned an alarming shade of purple.

"Don… -ay…" Ivan rasped.

Erik turned her back toward him, brushing his nose along hers and keeping their eyes locked. "Would you say my name?" he whispered. "It's been so long since I've heard it."

The warmth coursing through her rose steadily until Lucy felt as though she was burning from within. Erik smelled heavenly, just like the large tree he'd come from. His hands were coarse against her flesh, but softer than his tree. "What are you?" she asked, breathless while his arm wrapped around her shoulders. She couldn't find it in herself to be concerned about his proximity, or the fact that his chest was suddenly beneath her trembling hands.

"Won't you say my name?" he chuckled. "Lucy… Can't I hear it from those beautiful lips?"

"Erik…" A slow grin stretched across his thin lips and she heard a very loud crack sound from the air above them. Then a low thud as something hit the ground. Lucy broke away from his piercing gaze and peeked around him to find Ivan lying in a lifeless heap, with his eyes wide and unseeing and his mouth opened on a silent scream. "Wh-What have you done?"

"You asked for my help," Erik said. His fingers brushed across her jaw. "You asked for me, and I came to you."

"I never asked you to kill him!"

Erik's smile stayed in place while she crawled backwards, out of his grasp. He simply crawled after her. "You asked me to keep you safe, Lucy. I couldn't stop him from finding you, and I'm sorry for that. But you took my leaves when I offered them. You tried to use me to get away from him."

She shivered when his hands gently clasped hers.

"You trusted me to help you," he said. "I'm sorry it took so long for me to come. It's been so long since I left my tree."

"What are you… what are you talking about?"

"And now that you've said my name, I can leave my tree whenever I wish."

"I don't understand," she said, shaking her head. She squeaked when his lips crashed against hers and sharp teeth she hadn't noticed before nipped at her lips. Her eyes were wide and horrified, and she drew back on a gasp before his tongue could spear into her mouth.

"I'm a dryad," he said. "Cursed to live as a tree forever." He kissed her again. It wasn't nearly as intense or desperate, just a tender pucker against her lips that drifted to her ear. "Artemis cursed me so long ago. She saw me cutting down a tree to use as kindling."

"You were cursed," Lucy said, frowning in confusion. "Because you cut down a tree?"

"Yeah," he chuckled, pulling back and staring down at his hands over hers. "I lost who I was before. Now I'm just…"

"Just Erik," she said softly, and his single eye snapped back toward her. She didn't understand a lot of what was happening, but she did remember some of the legends her mother used to tell her years ago about the Gods and their tempers. Some people were cursed for no real reason. But she'd always assumed they were nothing more than stories.

"You said it again," he said in awe.

"Is that a good thing?"

"One more time," he said, grinning excitedly. "Just one more, okay? Please."

"Why?"

"Please," he whispered. "Say it again." She tried to pull away when his hands rested on her arms - they were still very sore from Ivan grabbing her and tossing her around earlier - but she fell backward to the forest floor and he followed her. Erik didn't crawl on top of her like Ivan had, and instead laid on the soft grass beside her. "Please, Lucy. If you say my name again… Please say it."

"Why?" she asked again. "What does your name have to do with anything?"

"If you say it again, it'll break my curse," he said. "I'll finally be free."

Lucy bit her lips when he pulled her hands up and gently kissed her knuckles. He must have really been from another time, she reasoned. That was the only explanation for how openly affectionate he was. She didn't notice any sort of accent from him, but she'd never seen anyone who looked quite like him before. But she just didn't know if she could trust him. She knew for a fact that dryads were Fae-folk. And the Fae were the reason that no one was allowed to venture into Darkwood. They'd terrorized countless villagers until the humans had agreed to never step foot in the forest. And she'd broken that agreement, but she really hadn't had a choice.

Lucy didn't know if she could trust him, but maybe he would be willing to not lie to her if she asked him some questions. Hopefully.

"Can you tell me something?"

"Anything." He seemed so eager to please right then. That had to be a good sign.

"If I say it, will anything bad happen to me?"

Erik frowned at her and shifted closer. One hand slid up her arm and his fingers brushed across the forming bruises there. "Nothing worse than what that bastard did to you," he said. "You won't be hurt, I swear."

"And this is something that'll help you?" she asked. She did kind of owe him for helping to protect her from Ivan. "Just saying your name a third time?"

"It will," he said. "And you'll have to kiss me. I hope that's alright."

"K-Kiss you?"

"Just a small one," he chuckled. She could swear that his cheeks flushed a gentle pink when his eye drifted away from her. "Sorry if I got too excited before. It's just… It's been so long since anyone has been able to get me out of my tree… It takes me about a hundred years just to peek out on my own."

"A hundred years…"

"Will you please say it?"

She really wasn't sure about this. Something about it seemed so strange. Well, all of it was strange. This whole night was strange. Seeing Ivan kill her father, running for her life, nearly being taken advantage of by Ivan, and now talking with a Fae. An attractive one, but she was sure that all of his kind were oddly beautiful like this. So ethereal and breathtaking.

"Erik." She wasn't sure what made her say it, what made her desperate to trust him, but he had helped her when she would have died otherwise. And his smile once those two syllables passed her lips was so wide and so infectious that Lucy found herself leaning forward where they laid on the forest floor and bringing her lips to his without any prompting whatsoever.

It was only supposed to be a small kiss, just enough to fulfill his request. Except when she drew back, he followed, and she didn't want him to stop. Erik groaned as she rolled, pushing him onto his back and draping one leg across his hips. She finally pulled back for air and her hazy smile faded when she saw the dark glee shining in his eye.

"You moron," he chuckled.

"What?"

"Oh, say my name three times," he crooned, holding her in place when she tried to get away. A low, dark chuckle left him. "You humans are all the same. Just a little romance, just the right words, and that's all it takes."

"But you said…"

"That my name and a kiss would break my curse. I know." Erik rolled and forced Lucy to the ground beneath him, resting most of his weight on top of her. "Artemis never cursed me to be a dryad though."

"Y-You weren't a human?"

"No," he said. "I was. A long time ago. But I  _asked_  her to make me like this."

"Then what curse…"

"Loneliness," he said. For the briefest of moments, she saw some sort of vulnerability in his eye. Was he really telling her the truth? "The woman I loved broke my heart. She left me for Apollo, Artemis' twin brother. So, I asked Artemis to make the pain go away forever." A bitter laugh left him then. "There was a catch though, and I wish I'd seen it sooner. She'd said that I would be a dryad - the first male she'd ever made like this - that I'd watch over this forest and the animals within it forever. I hadn't thought about it at the time, but…"

A sharp tingling sensation rippled across Lucy's body and she gasped when he sat up. She couldn't move though. Why couldn't she move? No matter what she did, no matter how her hands or feet tried to shift and find purchase on the ground, nothing worked.

"I've been alone for so long," he said. "The pain of Kin...  _her_... leaving me went away after a few years, but then… I've been so alone. It's just me in this forest." He smiled down at her and stroked her hair. "Until now."

"Wh-What?"

"Saying my name had nothing to do with it," he said. An alarmed squeak caught in her throat when she felt his hands moving to the bottom hem of her nightdress and slowly moving it higher. "All you had to do was kiss me. And now, you'll be like me. I just wanted to hear you say my name. It sounds so perfect when you say it."

Her cheeks burned brilliantly when her clothes were fully removed. She watched as vines crept down from another tree and took the white silk away, further into the forest, leaving her bare and ashamed of the fact that he was seeing her like this.

"Sweet Gods, are you beautiful," he breathed. Erik frowned when he looked back into her eyes and found tears streaming down the sides of her face. "I won't hurt you."

"Really?" she spat. "Because th-this… I can't…"

"Artemis gave me the ability to choose a bride," he said. "To make a woman like myself, so I'd never lose her again. I was a good man to the woman I loved. I gave her everything she desired."

"I d-don't want to marry you!"

"You already have, by giving me a kiss." Erik stood and then carefully lifted her into his arms to carry her back to the trunk of his tree.

"I didn't know! You never told me!" Why was it that she could speak, even turn her head, but she couldn't move anything else? Was this what it was like to become a Fae? Was she really becoming a dryad, just like him?

Erik adjusted Lucy's body so she was leaning against the trunk of his tree, and held her up with his arms around her naked waist. "Artemis is a protector of women and nature," he said. "Had I been human and seen what that man was doing, I would have acted sooner. But she's made me peaceful, Lucy. Still, seeing what he was doing to you, I couldn't let it continue. My goddess,  _our_  goddess, protects the virtue of women. And it's because of that… I won't force myself on you. I do hope that one day, you'll come to my tree and ask me to be yours."

"I-I'll never do that," she hissed, ignoring her tears.

"We'll be together forever," he said, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Your own tree will be beside mine forever. And no one will ever hurt you again. In these woods, you'll always be safe. And as time goes on, I'll teach you all there is to being a dryad."

He moved her again, holding her limp body tightly to him while carrying her only a few feet from his oak tree. Her feet touched the ground and Lucy gasped in horror when she started sinking into the earth up to her ankles. "Erik, what's happening?!"

"Your roots are setting," he said. "Don't worry. I'll be right here the whole time. There's nothing to be afraid of."

"But my life back in town! I-I can't stay here!" Her fingers twitched against her thighs and she felt thick vines slithering over her, strengthening her body to support the weight of the tree she would become.

"What life?" he asked. "You told me your father's dead. I can tell by looking in your eyes that your mother's gone as well. And you seem like an only child. There's no family to return to."

"You can't just decide this for me!"

Erik sighed and pulled her hands up to rest on his chest. He smiled down at the tips of her fingers when he saw them starting to shift in color and the beginnings of small twigs growing from her knuckles. "Lucy, everything will be fine."

"I hate you," she sniffled. "I hate you so much."

"You know, that's something I'm used to," he said. Still, Erik kissed her fingers, then leaned forward and pressed soft kisses along her teary cheeks. "You'll be the most beautiful tree I've ever seen. Just hold me, Lucy. I won't leave you."

And even though she wanted nothing to do with him, when the strength returned to her hands and arms, she didn't fight him. She could feel how sturdy her legs had become where they were fused together into a thick trunk up to her hips. There was no getting away from this fate. She wanted to hate Erik, and she did for what he'd done to her. What he'd convinced her to do. And still, her arms wrapped around him and her head dropped to his shoulder while she cried. She still sought comfort from him, because who else was there that could give it to her? She was terrified. Lucy had never wanted to live like this. She'd never wanted immortality.

His fingers sifted through her hair and his quiet voice filled the air around them. He hummed an ancient, foreign song between her sobs and somehow it was enough to soften her voice, to soothe her fears for a little while.

"Sleep now," he said. "I'll be here when you wake up, Lucy. I'll always be here for you."

Her eyes fluttered closed as the first pieces of bark crept up her throat and onto her face. She barely felt him kissing her one last time, but that didn't matter to her. She was so tired. All that running from Ivan, the stress of the night, the worries of what her life would become with a husband she couldn't stand to even look at - everything melted away as she slowly drifted from the real world and further into her dreams.

* * *

Erik let out a quiet hum as cool droplets of water fell down onto his bare chest through the trees. He looked up toward the boughs overhead, following his own branches toward the tree just beside his own, and grinned while leaning back against Lucy's trunk. She hadn't been asleep for very long, but he was definitely happy that it was raining. She needed the extra water, being such a young dryad.

And by the Gods, she was a beautiful tree. Even though she hadn't grown as tall just yet, he could tell that she would thrive in no time. Especially since he made sure to feed his own magic right into her roots to help her grow. Her leaves were still mostly light green and her branches were thin. Her bark wasn't fully formed just yet, so he could still see her human form in the trunk, with her arms raised above her head and her head tipped back just slightly. She may have been upset over her fate, but being able to see the serene smile lifting her plump lips set him at ease.

He hadn't meant to call her a moron after she'd kissed him. He hadn't meant to make her feel bad about her choice to be with him. Granted, Erik hadn't told Lucy just what she was signing up for, but how could he? She never would have done it. She would have left him for good, never to return. He would have been alone once more, and there was no telling how many centuries would pass before another young woman came close enough.

He hadn't been able to stop himself from helping Lucy. Even with Artemis' voice in his head, telling him that humans were trespassing and this was their fate, Erik hadn't been able to just leave her like that. He couldn't let that man force himself on her. He couldn't watch as such a beautiful woman was tarnished by a man's hatred. Luckily for him - and for Lucy - Artemis had relented. She'd allowed him to break from his tree long enough to remove the threat from Darkwood.

"I'm not sure if I approve of this." Erik's head turned to find the familiar, echoing voice in the form of a doe walking toward him and Lucy's tree. She came closer and he moved between her and Lucy's tree, then bowed low. "You did this to her against her will."

"You promised me," he said softly. "You promised I'd have a woman to love me." He sighed when the doe's nose brushed along his pointed ear. "I know I should have told her the truth. I'm sorry every day that passes that I didn't do just that. Lucy should have had a choice in this as well. I just..."

"You've been alone long enough," the doe said, drawing his gaze over to her. "And you did protect a woman, just as I would have done. Thank you for that, Erik. You've been a loyal follower for many years, and you do deserve happiness."

"Sometimes it doesn't feel like it," he said while lifting his head. He gazed back at Lucy's bark-covered face. "I doubt she'll think that when she wakes up."

He really couldn't help but feel guilty for what he'd done to Lucy. So many days had passed already with him simply watching her grow, waiting for the day she would wake again. He knew he deserved her anger. He'd asked for his life, and she'd done nothing of the sort. She hadn't wanted this. He'd forced it on her, tricked her. She'd seemed so angry, so hurt, so betrayed by what he'd done. It had definitely been a surprise to feel a sudden pang in his chest when he saw her crying because of him.

The doe walked around him and nuzzled Lucy's tree. "I think this woman may surprise you, Erik. Her heart is pure."

"I could've told you that," he muttered.

"She can grow to love you. Tend to her during this precarious time. You've always had an affinity for nature, and this form of yours has only enhanced it." His eye closed when the doe turned back to him. "Care for her, and I'm sure she'll do the same for you."

He nodded in silence and watched as his goddess walked away, through the trees, and disappeared from his sight. A gentle breeze brushed across his skin and he inhaled the scents of the forest. Something new caught his attention, a scent that was familiar but strange, and he followed it to Lucy's tree. His nose pressed against her bark and slid higher over her hip to the dip in her waist, between her breasts, and along her throat until his lips were nearly against hers. Why was it that she smelled so sweet? So alluring? Erik let out a shaky breath while feeling her bark against his flesh. His arms wrapped around her slowly. Even though she wasn't awake, and would never know that he'd held her like this, he was still careful. The last thing Erik wanted was for her to wake up too soon.

"You need your rest," he said. His hands glided around her trunk. "I promise to take care of you. You'll be strong and healthy, a beautiful dryad. My beautiful wife." She didn't move when he finally kissed her. There was no response from the slumbering woman while his trembling fingers traced the lines of her face, every line of her body, while his lips moved over hers. "Just rest, Lucy. I'll be here for you. Always."

* * *

She woke with a gasp and found him standing before her, looking so human, so familiar. His single eye, a scar bisecting the other and closing it forever, dark maroon hair and sun-kissed skin. That smile as he gazed at her was something she'd seen before.

Where had she seen it before?

Where had she seen  _him_  before?

She shivered and saw golden leaves fluttering down from the air. Where had those come from? She wanted to move around, but something held her in place. Before she could panic though, his hands rested on her cheeks.

"You're finally awake." His voice was so soft. Soothing. Her lips lifted in a contented smile and she tried in vain to lean into him. "It's alright. Just relax. Let me help you, alright?" She saw his face coming closer, and nothing in her wanted to pull away. She welcomed his warm lips moving over hers, his hands drifting down the column of her throat and winding around her, pulling her from something thick and fibrous that wanted to keep her in place. "Tell me if it hurts, love." She kissed him again and moments later her hands were free and tangling in his long maroon hair, pulling him closer still. She felt his warmth against her chest, wrapped around her waist, as he breathed life into her once again.

One foot touched the soft grass, then the other, and she sighed into the kiss when she felt the chilled morning dew kissing the her soles.

"Good morning," he chuckled against her lips.

She hummed and sent him a soft smile, then rested her head on his chest. Why was he so familiar? Why did she feel like this was where she belonged? How was it that she knew, deep down, she'd been sleeping for a very long time? It made her wonder how long she'd been asleep though, and what she must have missed.

"How long was I sleeping?" she asked.

"Seventy years," he said. "Your tree is so perfect."

"Tree?" She turned in his arms and gazed up at the massive oak tree with golden yellow leaves on its boughs high above them. Half of the branches knotted around those from another tree, one with dark red leaves, and seemed to be holding them up and away from the ground. "It's amazing."

"You're amazing," he whispered into her ear. "I never knew your heart was so full of love that you could lift my branches again."

"I don't understand…" Her head rested on his shoulder while he took her hands in his, guiding them from her throat down the length of her body. Something soft covered her breasts, and she glanced down to find pale green moss protecting her most intimate of parts from sight. She wasn't appalled by it, but it was odd. She couldn't remember ever looking like this. For some reason, she could only catch small wisps of memories, but in them she was always wearing soft, flowing gowns. She wasn't nude or even in a forest.

"This must be confusing for you," he said.

"Very…"

"Well, do you remember my name?"

She turned toward him and his warm smile had her own lips lifting just slightly. "Erik." She hadn't a clue how she remembered it, but the name felt right. His arms tightened around her and his smile grew wider. She must have been right.

"And do you remember yours?" he asked.

She bit her lips and looked at him for a hint. When he said nothing, she looked around them, to the trees and foliage. Up toward the pale blue sky she could see between golden and red leaves. "I don't know," she said.

"Your name is Lucy," he said softly. "And you're my wife."

"We're married?"

"Yes," he chuckled.

"And I slept for so long…"

"You needed your rest," he said. "Changing from a human into one of our kind takes a lot out of a person."

"I'm… not a human?" She felt like that should have scared her more than it really did.

"Not for a long time."

"What am I now?" Her eyes closed when he kissed her cheek. Had he always been this affectionate?

"The most beautiful dryad I've ever seen," he said. "A mother to Darkwood, and a loyal servant to Artemis."

Artemis sounded familiar. "Mother?" she asked, her brows pinching together.

"When your tree began to grow," he said, lacing their fingers together, "New plants started growing as well. Your roots fed life back into these woods. Even the animals seem happier now that you're here."

She smiled and slowly took a step away from him, keeping their hands clasped. "Will you show me?" she asked.

"Everything and more," Erik said. "Are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad?"

He shook his head and led her away from their trees down to a creek that fed into the nearby town. "You were upset with me when you fell asleep," he said. "I'd hoped that by the time you woke up, you would've forgiven me."

"I don't remember being mad at you at all." She laughed as a doe and its fawn came wandering closer, and held out her hand for them to sniff. The deer bypassed her hand, however, and nuzzled against her sides. Then her throat and face.

"They all know who you are," he said. "That you're the reason for everything we have here."

"I couldn't be," she said, and her cheeks burned when she heard his quiet chuckle. "I was sleeping, remember?"

Erik led her away from the deer and they walked slowly through the creek, following it upstream until they reached the edge of Darkwood. "This used to be your home. The edge of Darkwood marks the far end of our home. We can't leave this place, Lucy."

Lucy frowned at the buildings with their shingled roofs, streets lined with cobblestones, horses pulling carts full of produce. None of it looked familiar to her. Nothing made her mind snap into focus with crystalline memories of a life she'd once lived. "I don't remember it."

Erik's arm wrapped around her waist and he directed her along the edge of the forest. "There's something you should see though," he said. "And even though you don't remember, I won't hide it from you."

They stopped once again in the place where Lucy had first entered Darkwood decades prior. She took a shaky breath while gazing at the grass, and a flash of something frightening shot through her stomach. She remembered harsh, quick steps and twigs biting into her feet, but nothing more. Lucy's gaze lifted from her feet when Erik's finger hooked under her chin.

"We can walk here," he said, "But we can't stay long. Since you've just woken up, we'll only be able to stay a few minutes."

"How come?"

"You need to be by your tree, love. You'll get sick if you aren't close enough so soon after waking up."

She nodded and held his hand tightly as he led her out of Darkwood and closer to a large marble statue. Once they were in front of it, Lucy's mouth went dry at the sight of something so familiar to her. Why had someone made a statue of her, standing with her hands held out at her sides and smiling toward the heavens? The hair was too short - Lucy's reached down to her hips in gentle waves, not at her shoulders like that statue - and she really didn't like how she looked in that carved slip of a dress. It just didn't feel like it was who she was.

"You were loved by the people here," Erik said softly. She turned to find his single eye staring at the statue as well. "When you disappeared, it was tragic. The birds told me what was happening in the town, and I made an appearance for the first time in years. They had to know you hadn't died."

"I-I don't understand," she said. A beautiful red bird landed on the statue's hand and chirped a happy song of welcome. She wasn't sure how she knew that was what it meant, but it felt right. "Why would they do this?"

"Momma, look!"

Lucy gasped and whirled in place at the young, shrill voice that sounded just behind them, only to find a child holding tightly to his mother's hand, smiling so wide with wonder. She was suddenly very aware of how little of her body was hidden from sight. Her hands trembled and her heart instantly pounded against her ribs as she took a small step closer to the forest.

"It's her!" the boy yelled. "Darkwood's princess is here! She's real, Momma!"

Lucy looked into the woman's eyes for only a moment, before shuffling behind Erik to keep herself hidden. "Erik, I-I don't like this…"

He gave the woman a kind smile and a short nod. "She's awake," he told her before turning to Lucy. "We should get back." She nodded quickly as he pulled her into his arms. She watched the boy's eyes widen in shock as roots shot up from the earth and encapsulated herself and Erik, then pulled them down into the ground. She could feel them moving through the soil. How odd a sensation it was to be moving without being able to see where they were going. "Are you feeling better?"

She looked up into his single, burning eye and took a deep breath filled with the earthy aroma that wafted off of him. "Well…"

"Maybe we should have waited," he said, frowning as he stopped them from moving. "Maybe it was too much so soon."

She smiled when his nose nestled in her hair. His hands were so gentle while caressing her shoulders and down the length of her spine. "Erik, do you love me?"

"I've spent the last seventy years watching over you," he laughed. "I fell in love with you the moment I saw you."

"And you still love me, even though I don't remember any of it?"

"I do." Her heart fluttered in her chest, and the roots around them rippled slightly. They pushed against her back and his, forcing the two to meet in a passionate kiss. "I really do, Lucy."

By the time they reached the little copse holding their intertwined oak trees, Lucy was no longer aware of their surroundings. She didn't care that they broke through the ground and she was pinned to his tree, or that she started slowly melding into the bark instead of being scraped by it while Erik's hips rolled into her. And when night crept over Darkwood, the two Fae slept within Erik's tree. Her own roots had grown into his, twisting together so she was still close enough to it to be safe. They stayed curled around one another and slumbered peacefully together. Just as they would for centuries to come.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not super happy with the end of this. I'm fully aware that Lucy was forced into it, and I'm not trying to hand-wave that away. It was intentional. It's actually pretty creepy how Cobra goes about doing this, and that's kinda the point of it all. On the surface, it may seem romantic, but beneath that, it's creepy. I meant for it to be that way. Several reviews on FFnet pointed that out, so I'm putting this note here to let you guys know that was my intention.


End file.
